Bicycle.



'Patented lune 3, 902.V

G. w. MANsoN.

B l C Y 'L-iE (Application led Nov. 17,`1900.)

NUM d I.) oboe ww n m. w ,nm Q\ eww wrm WITNESSES l ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE w. MAnsoN, oE NEW YORK, N. Y.

BICYCLE.V

I vSPE(`JIFIGA'1I01\T forming vpart of Letters Patent N o. 701,747, dated June f3, 192.

Application.filed-November 17, 1900. Serial-No. 36,643. (.No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. MANSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, in the city and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Bicycles,` of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of improvements in the construction and combination of the frame, pedal-levers, seat, handle-bar, and

steering-head, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side View of abicycle, illustrating my invention. Fig. 2`i-s a top view of theY same. Fig. 3 isv a detail view,`partly'in section, of connected portions of .the handle-bar and one of the handles on a larger scale.

In Letters Patentv No. 616,421, granted to me the 20th of December, 1898, I described animproved construction of bicycle-frame, having oneach side a pair of longitudinal bars in parallel position one above the other, inclined upward and'forward in front and converging to the steering-head, having a drive-wheel mounted between their rear ends and a seat mounted on a vertical yoke-frame forminga truss for the rear part of the frame. In my present improvement I construct the respective sides of the frame in form of ay parallelogram with tubes extending from its upper and lower front corners converging for ward, upward, and inward to the steeringhead and at rear with rearwardly-inclined tubular posts for the support of horizontal bars on which the seat is adjustably mounted and with tubular bars converging rearward from the top and bottom of the parallel sideA frames and the upper end of the seat-post to a box on each side of the drive-wheel, in which its bearings are adjustably mounted.

The central part of each side frame consists of aparallelogram made up of an upper tubular rail 1 andlower tubular rail 2, united at front and back by vertical tubes 3 3. The lower tubular rail 2 extends forward some distance beyond the frontpost, as shown in Fig. 1, and from thence upward in the form of a curved and forwardly -inclined standard 2a. Said standards converge inward from each side frame and are firmly secured in front to the lower end of the tubular head 4, in which the fork 5 of thehsteerin'g-wheel 6 .has its bearings. From the front upper corner of each quadrangular side frame a tubular standard 3a extends upward and forward, said inclined standards 3LP converging from each side to the upper end of the tubular head 4, to which they are likewise firmly secured. From the rear end of the rectangular portion 1 2 3 of each Yside frame tubular rails 1b 2b extend backward, converging'invertical planes to Vthe boxes 7, in which the bearin gs of the drivewheel 8 are ad justably mounted. Froln the rear upper corners of the said quadrangular portions of the respective side frames standards 1d extend upward with a rearward inclina tion for the support of horizontal rails 9, on which the seat l0 is mounted. From near the upperends of the standards 1iL tubular braces 3b extend downward to the boxes 7. The respective side frames thus constituted are rigidly trussed in vertical planes and are made especially strong and stiff in their rear parts, where the weight of the rider is sustained. The two side frames are rigidly connected by horizontal tubular bars 11 11a 25, so as to be firmly braced also in horizontal direction.

' A bracket 12 isattached to the forward up- 4per tubular standard 3a of each side frame,

upon which is hung a lever l 3,`having a footpedal 14 at its lower end. At a point about one-third the length of the lever from the pedal connection is made through connectingrod 15 to crank 16 for turning the main shaft 17 `of a train of gearing which drives the small sprocket wheel 18, chain 19, and large vsprocket-wheel 20, which is secured to the hubV of the' drive-wheel 8. The crank-shaft, the sprocket-wheel shaft, and intermediate gearing are mounted in a separate casing 21,

which is placed between the side frames and IOO 30, and provided with a nut 31, having a tapering thread which serves to clamp the ends of handle-bars upon the telescoping shank 28 of the handles 28. One of the handle-bars is provided with a brake-lever 32, having the brake-rod 33 passing down through the center 'of steering-head 27 and acting on a brakeshoe 34 of common form. The handle-bar arms 26, projecting backward, as shown, and the handles 28, adjustable longitudinally therein, together with the vertical and longitudinal adjustment of the seat and its vertical adjustment afforded by mounting its support teleseopieally in the seat-standards l, as shown, aiord great facility for adjusting the bicycle for the use of riders of different stature and length of limb.

The position of the seat l0 considerably to the rear of the pedals 14 and the provision of a back l0 for the seat and the rearward inclination of the pedal-levers 13 enable the use of the leg-muscles to the greatest advantage in propelling Without depending mainly on the Weight of the rider applied to the pedals.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

The combination of the handle-bars,formed with rearwardly-projecting arms 26, the handles 28 separately adjustable longitudinally of said arms, the seat 10, 10 adjustable in height and longitudinally on the inclined standard la and the rearwardly-inclined pendent pedal-levers 13 mounted on a suitable frame, substantially as described, to enable the adaptation of the machine for advantageous use by riders of different arm-reach and stature.

GEORGE W. MANSON.

Witnesses:

OCTAVIUs KNIGHT, WM. I. HAMMOND. 

